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Putin blames others for exploiting Ukraine plane crash

Associated Press

Posted:
07/21/2014 06:24:21 AM EDT

A piece of the crashed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 lies in the grass near the village of Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, Sunday, July 20, 2014. Rebels in eastern Ukraine took control Sunday of the bodies recovered from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and the U.S. and European leaders demanded that Russian President Vladimir Putin make sure rebels give international investigators full access to the crash site.(AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
(Evgeniy Maloletka)

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin has lambasted those who use the downing of a passenger jet in eastern Ukraine for "mercenary objectives," the Kremlin said Monday.

In a statement posted on the Kremlin website, Putin again lashed out at Ukraine for ongoing violence with pro-Russian rebels in the eastern part of the country.

He says the tragedy is being used for others' "mercenary objectives," although he does not say specifically who.

Putin also says he supports a crash investigation by a "full team of experts" under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency.

Since a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet was downed Thursday over Ukraine, killing everyone on board, the U.S. and others have blamed Moscow, which they say supplies and trains the rebels.